Forgotten
by LinkeyLove
Summary: You think you know the characters in Ocarina of Time? THINK AGAIN. In this, they're not what you think. They've changed and not particularly for the better...
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to write this... It was actually done a couple weeks ago, but thanks to carlosviarto, I decided to post it up on here and if you like it, maybe I'll continue it. I don't know, it's my first serious fanfic so don't judge. Usually I do parody stuff and/or comedy. So sorry if some of the stuff is like, "WTF AM I READING?!" You'll know what I'm talking about. Anyway, hope someone reads it and likes it because if you like it, I'm actually looking forward to writing more...

* * *

It's so cold. No –– scratch that; it's bitterly freezing. For all I know, I could be standing naked in Snowpeak, blanketed in layers and layers of snow.

But what am I saying? How could I be in Snowpeak... if I can't even see anything? It's all just darkness; not a single ray of light, not one little speck of sun. Nothing. Actually, it's quite unsettling seeing as though I... can't be seeing.

Cold and dark. Not exactly the best combo.

I turn around in futile circles, still trying to see if I can spot some sort of light but it's in vain. I'm totally blind.

I don't even remember how I got here. As I rack my brain, nothing comes forth. It's like I appeared here out of nowhere.

Came from nowhere and deposited in nowhere. Sounds right.

I consider taking a few steps forward but reluctantly restrain. I can't see the ground so I don't know the dangers that await me. A long dark pit? A trap? A cliff? It's best just staying here.

But I can't stay here forever. Staying in one place... that sounds pretty interesting. So one way or another I'm going to have to ––

_I know what you did..._

Huh? What was that? Did I just hear something?

I turn around to where the words came from but see nothing. Figures.

But I know I heard those words. Unless the utter silence is playing tricks on my head, I heard someone hiss out that sentence.

I grip my shivering arms and glance around me, alert to every little sound. I can even hear my pulse throbbing in my head. Ba-boom. Ba-boom. Ba...

_I know what you did..._

"Oh?" I gasp, startled completely by the words hissed to my left. I turn there, scanning the dark, but again, see nothing. Hm. This is sure... odd. No –– freaky.

"H-Hello?" I call out through the dark, sounding a lot more timid than I feel.

I wait for a response but get none. Just that high-pitched _riiiing_ in both my ears. Well, what did I think would happen? For them to shout out, "Hey! Yeah! So, I'm just here making sandwiches. You want one? Salami or Cucco?"

No.

Maybe I'm crazy. You know, that wouldn't be far from the truth. Maybe my mind finally caught up and is making me hear things. That... would be rotten.

_I know what you did..._

Arg! And there it is again! Why won't they shut up? Who is it? As far as I can tell, they're male... or a very masculine female... But what do they mean by that? Am I supposed to know?! And why do those words make my skin prickle like I know who it is? That's so impossible.

"Is someone there?" I call out, my voice stronger than the first time.

No response.

Hmmm... Maybe louder?

"Is someone out there?! Hello? I can hear you!"

_Sciiirrrrrrth..._

Whoa. W-What was _that_? A snake? No, more like a foot dragging across the floor. Oh no.

Sucking up my courage, I take a few tentative footsteps forward, my bare cold toes inching their way across the cold hard floor. I don't want to stay in place if someone else is coming towards me.

Suddenly, the cold empty room doesn't feel all that empty anymore. Before, my breath flew into the cold air, sending no vibrations back which told me there was nothing around. Now, I'm getting all kinds of vibrations from all over.

_Sciiirrrrrrth... Sciiirrrrrrth... Sciiirrrrrrth..._

Running. I'm running now. Running blindly through the dark, glancing over my shoulder even though that doesn't do squat. The scratching soon progresses into the sound of footsteps, loud heavy ones, and then the sound of something dragging across the floor.

I start pumping my arms at my sides, my head tucked low, sprinting in anyway I can, not caring if I trip into an unseen pit. Maybe then I'll be safe from those footsteps.

Then, all at once, the footsteps stop. Everything falls silent again except for my fast and uneven breaths which I try to slow. Once I've recovered, I look around me, my stomach in my throat. It's still silent, but that doesn't mean something can't just jump out at me. I stay standing alert to every tiny little sound I can possibly hear, even my hair whisping over my shoulders. Silence.

_I know what you did... Princess..._

Princess? What? I turn, looking around for maybe another person. Because he couldn't have meant me. I'm not a Princess. Far from it.

_Princess, princess, _the word echoes all around me. He couldn't have meant me. It's okay, it's okay. He's not after me. Because I'm not who he wants. He's not after ––

Suddenly there's a presence at my left shoulder and I turn to meet it. Only to be confronted with darkness. None other than.

As soon as I turn, the feeling dissolves into the empty air as if I imagined it. I couldn't have imagined it though. It was so real. And if it appeared that fast out of nowhere and went the same way... that isn't good.

Trying to swallow my building fear, I start walking across the uneven ground. I thrust my arms out all around me, taking precautions so I don't smack into something. If I were to hit and pass out, my situation would get a heck of a Dark World worse.

As I creep about in the darkness, I try to sense any other type of presence but I get nothing. Okay, I'm good for now. And at least that stupid hissing has st––

_ I know what you did..._

Dammit!

My bare toe has come across some hard object on the ground and stubbed right into it. Bouncing around, foot clutched in both my hands, I spit through my teeth in pain. Great Din that hurt. Really bad.

After the worst of the pain has ebbed away, curiosity fills in and I bend over to feel the thing I bumped into. The first thing I notice it that it's cold. Cold and smooth. It's like a block of stone, only a few inches off the ground with a random slit cut through the top. Weird. I've never felt anything like it.

_I know what you did, princess, I know..._

I stand up, terror renewed and back up, looking around me in a panic. That sounded like it came from all around me. From every where. Okay now I'm officially freaked out.

Suddenly, without warning, a hand cups over my mouth and sends me flying into a nearby unseen object. Judging by the pain in my face, a brick wall.

Reeling from the dizzying attack, I wipe away the blood at my freshly busted lip and turn to my aggressor. Who I can't see of course, sending me into full blown panic mode. The words were one thing. The thing hurt me physically.

I lash out in front of me, trying to swipe at whatever had hold of me a few seconds ago. My fingers only grasp air. I bet I look like some sight to see. Flapping my arms around me furiously, trying to grasp on to something, sweat across my forehead, blood dripping down my lips. Yeah,what a sight.

I bend over, feeling across the ground only to hear _I know what you did... _once again.

I stand up, fear refreshed and huddle back against the wall, trying to peer through the dark. That's when I notice something move. Just a shadow, which seems ridiculous since all I CAN see are shadows. But as clear as day, I saw it move.

Oh, and it's moving this way.

The hissing that has been going on all this time, yet subtly, increases in volume as I watch it get closer and closer to my defenseless form. Now all I can hear is that guttural hissing. Nothing else.

"Please," I manage to choke out underneath the lump in my throat, "don't hurt me."

_I know what you did..._

And then it's standing right in front of me, although I can't see it's face. Dang it, why can't I?

_I. Know. What. You. Did..._

If I wasn't scared to death, I would tell this guy to go learn new vocabulary. As it is, I'm about to pee my pants. But... but why cannot I shake the feeling that this voice sounds so familiar? It's like I know them, like I know them well. Like I ––

_I know what you did, Princess..._

"What?" I finally whisper, plucking courage out of nowhere. "What are you talking about?"

_I have the power Princess... I have the power... and I know what you did..._

"What are you talking about?" I call through he dark, the words making me scratch my head.

_I know what you did..._

Abruptly there's a hand at my throat, hurtling me back into a wall and I hit.

Hard. And painfully.

Stars fly around my eyes as my lungs gasp for air, staggering form the brutal onslaught. I claw at the things hands wrung around my neck, desperate to get them off me, desperate to breath again. It only tightens its grip, making my need for air incline.

Tears form at the corners of my eyes as more and more time passes without oxygen. My tongue lolls out across my lips, as dry as sandpaper. My lungs throb with the need for air. My brain pushes against my skull. My fingernails dig into their hands but they don't so much as flinch.

"Stop," I gag forcefully. "P-please...! I-I can't breath! S-Stop...!"

And that's when he pushes his face down in mine and I get a real good long look at the sickly grinning choker.

I don't know him. I've never seen him before in my life. His shaggy blonde hair, his blue eyes, his scowling lips. They're all unfamiliar. So why does some secluded part of me scream I know him?

_I have the power, Princess, _he hisses again, so close my lips brush his. I flinch. _I have the power... and I know... I know!_

That's the only thing I hear as my neck is nearly snapped in half. My eyes slam shut, my lungs pop simultaneously, and my world goes dark.

"Awhoa!"

I gasp, sitting rigid in bed, panting hard. My hands feels through the dark until they find the lantern hung beside my bed and flip it on. Instantly light fills every corner of the room. I sigh in relief, happy to see something again. After all that dark and blindness, it feels good to soak in the world of light again.

Darkness... I shutter at the word. That was one wild dream... no–– nightmare. I can't even begin to try to figure out what that was about. That man... what the heck was he talking about? He's sure got some screws loose if he called me princess. …...It was probably just my mind aching to be higher in society, wishing to be royal with everything lavish and never going to bed hungry. Well, my mind has got it wrong. Too bad it has to take it out with confusing nightmares.

"ZELDA!"

My door is thrown open with a tumultuous bang. I start, turning in its direction, prepared for anything (probably still nervous from the dream) only to see the flustered face of my nursemaid, Impa. She stands in the threshold, looking agitated and bothered, her red eyes upset. I've known Impa maybe my whole life [since I don't know my parents]. She takes care of me, she protects me, she helps me. The woman is like a mother I never had. And I know by now that when she looks upset, someone's probably about to die.

"Oh Impa, it's only you," I sigh in relief at the tanned Sheikah.

She doesn't share my ease. Her stoney face hardly moves an inch as she says, "You're late."

"Late?" I repeat. "For what?"

She rolls her eyes. "Don't act foolish. For your job."

All traces of my sleepiness disappear in that instant. I throw the covers from my body and dive for my wardrobe, flinging the heavy crested wooden doors open.

Impa watches through narrowed eyes and I continue to get ready. "You know, one would think you sleep in on purpose," she observes, a glint in her eyes.

I stop shuffling around to look at her. "Well, I don't, actually. Because if I did I would be fired by now." I go back to flinging random clothes around my room searching for a particular outfit.

"Good point," she says nodding. "well, on purpose or not, you'll get fired anyway if you don't hurry."

"I know!" I snap from my position under the bed, stretching to grab a shoe. "I'm trying! What does it look like?"

"Maybe I should leave you?" she suggests.

I pop up, the shoe clutched triumphantly in hand, hair awry and all over. "Yes! Got cha!" Then, remembering Impa, I face her. "Oh, yeah. You can leave. I'll be down in a moment."

She nods obediently. "Okay. Breakfast is on the table." She exits my room, closing the door behind her.

Once I'm alone, I peel my airy nightgown from my slender body and toss it in a heap on my bed. I hold up the white fabric that makes up my official uniform to my body and grimace.

You know, my job sucks as it is, since I work with the biggest jerk EVER, but it's worse because I have to wear the most ridiculous getup in the history of the universe.

It's a short white dress that barley goes to mid-thigh with pathetic trim that has a row of Cucco's on it. Plated square in the middle of the chest there's also an ugly Cucco, though enlarged, looking oh-so stupid and punchable. That, with white leggings and knee high brown boots makes up for the most coo-coo uniform, no pun intended.

And that's where I work (sadly): at the Coffee Cucco the finest coffee shop this side of Lake Hylia. Or, the only place that would hire and aspiring nobody with no experience on anything. That of course would be me, who's salary pays for dinner, who's done nothing thus far, who's about to get fired from that exact job.

"Shoot," I curse after a quick glance to the clock hanging over my rickety bed. Seven minutes to get there.

Hastily shoving the rest of my foot into my boot, I grab a white cap from a hook beside my door and shove that atop my messy hair. Oh yeah, I forgot this little baby: a stupid sailor's cap with what other than a cucco branded on the front. Just another part of my beautiful attire.

After my outfit is all reluctantly on, I skyrocket out of my room, thundering down the narrow hall. The smells of something cooking greet me as I enter the kitchen, almost tempting me into sitting down to eat whatever it is. Impa stands at the counter, arms crossed, staring down at boiling eggs as if enraged by them. When I enter, she looks up at me expression still eggry.

"Do you want some of this?" She points at the food.

I hurriedly shake my head no and give a "sorry" type smile before continuing on my mad dash out the door. Impa calls something back at me that I don't stop to comprehend. Oh well.

Outside, the morning air is crisp like a fresh apple, but not too cold. The ramshackle structures which really shouldn't be called as good a word as "house" sit silently like sentinels against the smokey sky looking ready to rain. The cobblestone streets are nearly deserted, only a few people here and there. Well, when you live at the edge of town, no one hangs around outside.

Far off in the distance, you can see the silhouette of Hyrule Castle, the most grand building in the whole kingdom. Somewhere in that structure of beauty, the King sits on his throne of jewels while the rest of us wither and starve. Not that it's ever been any different.

The jog to my work takes usually ten minutes so I'm already behind schedule. But you'd have to add on another five because of a pesky dog who chased me up a tree and wouldn't go away until a cat ran by. In the end, I'm nearly ten minutes late.

Finally I enter town square and as I predicted, it's more alive than my part of town. I sprint past the fountain which holds nothing but moss, rats and dead leaves over to the small white building on the opposite side.

I push my way through the glass door, a bell tingling overhead. My nostrils are invaded by the usual smell of acrid coffee and fresh bread making me breath deeper. Patrons turn to give me curious glances but when they see it's only me, they go back to their business. Yeah, cause here comes that _one_ chick.

I leg it to the front counter and arrive in a rattled mess, face beet red. I slam my time card into the time-keeper and pull it back out. It says I'm only three minutes late. "Success!" I breath, hugging my card to my chest.

"Well, you're here early," sneers a voice over my shoulder. I turn to them.

The long black hair in their face, the dull gray eyes, the dark skin. Who other than my _best friend _Thalea.

"Hey Thalea," I say cheerfully, not affected by her demeaning tone. "How are you this fine day?"

"Just fine," she snaps, thin lips drawn down in a frown. "How about you?"

I throw my hair over my shoulder and shrug nonchalantly. "Oh, just as good as anybody else. Hey, thanks for asking!" I give her another smile and walk to her side of the counter. I fix my askew cap and take my place at the register just as a person approaches.

"Hey, Malon," I say recognizing my close redheaded friend who runs Lon Lon Ranch. "And what would you like today?" No point in just ordering for her; her order changes everyday.

She eyes the menu for a second before saying, "Just a sweet tea, please."

I write that down on a piece of paper and giver her her total. She pays appropriately and takes a seat near the window while I turn to fulfill that order.

As I prepare the drink, Thalea stands aside and watches as if she's expecting me to screw up just so she can criticize me for it. Which she probably is.

"So Zelda," she says bitterly. "Guess who _I_ saw today?"

I restrain from saying your mom and instead give a happy, "I don't know. Who?"

She leans in real close to where I'm about to yell at her to give me my space and whispers, "The King."

Dismayed, I stop pouring the sugar into the cup, spilling the scolding water all over my arms. "OUCH!" I yelp, wiping it madly from my arms. Malon looks up from her seat.

"You okay?" she calls.

I give her a thumbs up with a shaky hand. "Ohhhh yeah! I'm good!" She nods and looks back out the window.

I fetch a towel and start to wipe up the mess that scalds my arms. Through this, I look up at Thalea and say, "You saw the _King_?"

She nods proudly. "Mmm hmmm. On my way to work."

Feeling skeptical I say, "Nobody has seen the King before. Not since he drove out the old King. Why would he just appear all of a sudden today?"

She shrugs like I'm an idiot. "Why would I know? I just know I saw him is all."

I toss the sodden towel across the counter and throw away the old cup. "What'd he look like?"

"I didn't really see. I just saw his backside," she informs me.

I look at her through my brows creased into my eyes. "Well then how do you know it was actually him?"

"Because he was practically waving a sign around saying I AM THE KING: he had twenty guards around him armed to the teeth, a grand scepter with the emblem of Hyrule on it, and he wore clothes no one here in Castletown could hope to afford. Who else would that be?"

I feel baffled. The King showed himself? That's so rare. Rarer than seeing a Zora up at Death Mountain. No one has seen hide nor hair of the man ever since that day he usurped our old King. Heck, no one even saw him _then_. I hardly know his name... I think it was Link...

"I wonder what he was doing out here? So bored in his castle he decided to come out here and execute for fun?" I nod at the idea. That wouldn't be far from actuality since he does that anyways. Of course the victims are brought to _him_ instead of vice versa.

Thalea looks as perplexed as I. "No idea. It was well before dawn and he seemed to be trying to avoid all and anyone. He was headed back to the castle anyway."

Feeling riveted by this bit of news, I turn around and start searching through the cupboards for a new package of sugar. "Well, the King is one weird dude," I call from where my head's deep in the cubby. "Only Din knows what he does... Ah, dang it!"

I pull myself out of the cabinet brushing my hair free of cobwebs, scowling absently.

"What's your problem?" crows Thalea.

"We're out of sugar," I say thumbing to the empty cup bored. "Totally."

Thalea looks annoyed like this is somehow my fault. "Then I guess you're just gunna have to go get more."

My face falls. "I have to? You're co-manager. Isn't it your responsibility to make sure we're stocked?"

But she's already preoccupied taking another person's order and doesn't respond. I stomp my foot childishly and stick my tongue out behind her back. She may be a year older than me, but sometimes she just acts to youthfully stupid...!

Or maybe that's just me.

Beetle-browed, I march off to the front door and am about to open it when I realize it's started raining out there. And pretty hard at that.

"Hey, are you okay?"

I turn to the voice and see it was Malon who spoke the words.

"Are you okay?" she repeats. I turn back to the door.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I gotta go though."

Before I can leave, she stops me by saying, "Where ya headed?"

"We ran out of sugar so I'm going to get some," I say.

"Well, if your going out into that rain, take my cloak. It's probably freezing out there and you're just wearing that dress."

"Oh, no, Malon. It's fine. I'll be fine. Keep your cloak." But inside I'm screaming YES, GIVE ME THAT THING!

She unties it from around her neck, pulling her flaming hair from the brown fabric. "Zelda, I insist. Take the cloak. You're getting that sugar for me so I'm letting you use this. Besides," she adds with a giggle. "I'm not going to be cold as long as _he's_ here..." Her gaze transfixes on something over my shoulder. With a turn I realize she's gazing longingly at a teenage boy seated in the corner sipping a cup.

I turn back to her, grinning. "Careful, Malon. He's a Sheikah," I say noting his mysterious look and the symbol of the race branded across his purple and white bodysuit. "They're a funny bunch."

But she's staring too hard to hear or care. With a laugh and a roll of the eyes I grab her cloak and pin it over my shoulders. "Well, see you later!"

I push my way out the door, the misty rain slapping me across the face with a chilly hand. I squint against the spray and throw the hood over my head, thankful I took it, and start into the gray.

The only other place in this wretched town that holds sugar would be the vendor across town. So that's where it looks like I'll be heading.

Since the rain has started, the crowd outside has thinned immensely, making it easier to slip over the wet pavement. Or harder since there's no one to grab on to.

I bustle past the few people who've decided to stay out in this weather, bumping into a few and apologizing hastily. I walk through the labyrinth of alley ways, past stores and "houses" and other accommodations.

At last last the white awning comes into view and I hurry to it, eager to get out of this rain.

As I approach, people's conversations come into earshot and it turns out Thalea wasn't the only one to spot the superior King this morning. Obviously, rumors have started but the most reoccurring one is that he was out looking for a certain someone. Oh, does the poor King want a girlfriend?

Snickering at my own joke, I don't notice the seller has called me up next in line. Giving my head a vigorous shake, I approach and spot the light pink packs of sugar displayed neatly in a tub.

"Whaddeya wan', kid?" warbles the warted man behind the table.

"Fifty packs of sugar. Please," I add hurriedly at the end.

While he counts out the packs and places them in a bag, I search through my pockets for my wallet. I pull it out and start shuffling through it when the man says, "That'll be nine-thousand rupees please."

I drop my wallet in surprise. I stare at him, eyes as wide as saucers. Did I just hear that correctly? "WHAT?! NINE THOUSAND RUPEES?"

"Um, yeah," he snips snottily. "Are you deaf?"

I pick up my wallet, still stunned. "N-nine thou..." My eyes stop rolling and I look sternly at him. "I got sugar from you last week. It was three for one rupee. Why all of a sudden so much?!"

He huffs and says, "The King raised taxes on sugar cane. It's hard to get now so I need as much money as I can get. Now if you aren't buying... MOVE."

I stand staring unbelieving at the man while a customer comes up behind me and shoves me out of the way.

Taxes?! Raised the taxes?! How much did that man raise them?!

Coming back to life, I stutter out obscenities but the man does a pretty good job at ignoring me.

"Well then!" I snap appalled. I back away to the edge of the table, still visibly fuming. Nine-thousand rupees for fifty packs of sugar? Now _that's_ ridiculous. Does it look like I'm Mr. Moneybags?

As someone walks by, they so rudely tread across my cloak, making me choke. I turn to them.

"Excuse me, good sir! Was I in your way?" I call at his back, walking away from me. He doesn't turn.

With a disdainful huff, I sweep the cloak around my feet and hold my nose in the air. That's when I remember the cloak isn't really mine. It's Malon's, who's sitting back there waiting for her drink. Well, too bad for her because idiots run this kingdom.

_Customers always come first..._The words my boss drilled into my mind since the first day I started at that place echo around my skull. Hmmmm... he's right. Customers do come first. And Malon so kindly gave me this cloak and it'd look bad if I didn't even try...

With a sly glance around to make sure no one's watching (which they aren't) I reach a stead hand across the vendor's table and snatch up a handful of the little sugar packets. Stomach clenched in nerves, I slowly inch my hand back into my cloak, ready to bolt off and make that stupid tea.

It never happens.

Suddenly there's another hand, much larger and scarred, clenched around my wrist. With a surprised gasp, I look up to whoever's got me and lurch back. Great, it's a castle guard. And he doesn't look too happy.

"Heh, heh," I laugh nervously, dropping the sugar across the table. "Whoopsie! How'd _those_ get there?" I laugh some more.

He isn't impressed and doesn't crack a smile. Nope, instead he pulls a pair of cuffs from his armor, the chains rattling around one another.

"Miss, do you know what the penalty is for stealing from one of the Kings' stores?"

I rack my brain and blurt out, "A good scolding and no supper?"

This time he actually laughs. But far from genuinely. "Wrong. You get to meet the majesty himself."

* * *

The guard is anything but careful as he pulls me along with him. All the way to the castle, he drags me brutally behind him, cuffs digging deep into my skin.

"Hey, can you be more careful?" I grumble for the ninety-seventh time. (I counted.)

"No elisions for prisoners," he spits, contorted amusement tinging his voice.

"I am not a prisoner!" I snap angrily.

"Then what are you?" he sneers.

I look down at my cuffed hands and sigh. I guess he's right. Man, I hate when others are right.

The guard leads me to the front gate north of central square where two more knights stand at the entrance, spears crossed over the doors which are ten times bigger than I.

My guard gives the two of them a curt nod before they uncross their weapons and heave open the heavy doors. They all nod briefly to one another once again and then Mr. No Laugh leads me into the courtyard to a breath taking sight.

Even in the gloom, the immense castle looks marvelous. Large beautiful smokey gray bricks make up the building and pillars connected by walkways stand about. In the middle of the lush gardens and grass a statue of the crest of Hyrule stands like a guard to it's respective castle. The actual castle itself is beautiful since it's nearly twenty stories high and spans about the entire length of the courtyard. Peaks rise grandly into the air, gold plated windows gleam above me, banners are strung about and it's simply stunning.

And familiar.

Huh? Familiar? Why would it look familiar? No one gets passed that front gate unless your going to be executed and I'm pretty sure I'm not dead. So why do I have extreme deja vu looking at this structure?

"Hey, you coming?" The guard tugs at me shackles, egging me to hurry up.

I snap out of my stupor and in a trance, follow the guard through the court yard. Through my daze, taking it all in, I notice I've been led to a moat dug deep around the castle to prevent people from getting in further. Once again, town guards stand on the other side of the moat near the raised drawbridge, looking all official.

Regaining my wits, I say, "Well, we swimming over there or you gunna have them lower the bridge?"

The guard flashes me a look of warning before waving to at his companions. They react by rolling the lever to lower the bridge. It goes down with a loud creak and BANG! it hits.

"Come on, the King ain't got all day," urges my guard after I don't move for maybe two seconds.

"Hey, don't you pull me like that!" I roar. "I'll come when I want!"

Ooh, wrong thing to say.

"You know, it's enough you were caught stealing," he begins, voice bursting with malice. "But you don't talk to me like that. Or I'll make sure the King has fun with you." He grabs my wrist and hauls me behind him, nails dug into my skin.

I fight halfway across the bridge but then give up. It's no use. He's got me fettered and I doubt he's going to let go of my wrist. In fact, my finger tips are almost purple and the less I struggle, the more the color comes back.

Why are some people just big fat butts?

As we walk/struggle past I catch the eyes of one of the guards. It's only for a few brief nano-seconds but what is that I catch? Sympathy? Empathy? Guilt?

I gulp realizing that any one of those options aren't good ones. Fantastic, this visit is gunna be.

As soon as we enter the castle all I just said about it is completely blown out of the water by this sight. It's twenty times more incredible. But it'd take too long to go into detail about the interior so just imagine the most grand place you've ever seen and multiply that by, oh, one thousand. That's a fraction of an inch of how pulchritudinous (yeah, I looked up the longest word in the book) this is.

In awe, I allow the guard to pull me along the long red carpeted hallways. At each large door on either side, two knights stand guard. They give me blank stares as we pass, even if I try smiling. Well, SOMEONE'S got no soul.

Even though I'm probably going to get in heaps of trouble (and for _sugar_), I can't help but enjoy my time in the most pretty place in Hyrule. The unique painting on the walls, the plush carpets, the high archways. They all look so... familiar! But why? Why would I get deja vu here in the place of all places? I'm so caught up in confusion when I suddenly realize something. These painting aren't right. That painting up there with that man on a horse... it doesn't go there. None of these painting are in the right spot.

Now, I'm no designer, but there's something seriously wrong with this hallway. These paintings aren't in the right place. This carpet looks different... Different from what? What else would this look like? And why do I even notice this?!

I suddenly realize what's wrong. It's not the paintings. It's us. We're in the wrong place.

"What are you doing?"I suddenly demand, halting. "The throne room is _that_ way." I thumb down the hallway we just walked through. "We're going the wrong way."

He turns to me an exasperated look on his face but then he looks around too. Realization splashes across his face and he shakes his head. "...I don't know how... this castle must be too big... How could I have forgotten? It _is_ down there."He starts leading me back and throws me a look over his shoulder. "How'd you know that?"

Good question. How did I know that? I'm pretty sure I've never been in the King's castle before. And if I had, wouldn't I remember?

"I-I don't know," I answer truthfully. "But I feel like I've been here before even though I haven't..."

He grunts and turns back around. "You sure are a strange one."

The whole way to the Throne Room, I'm wondering how the heck I even knew to go this way. It's that eerie feeling I've felt almost all day. That eerie feeling that started out with that crazy dream...

And then, before I even know it, I'm standing outside the throne room. How do I know how? That's easy, and it has nothing to do with a jacked deja vu feeling. It's the big fat golden plaque that reads THRONE ROOM in ginormous letters.

Ironically, there's no guards in sight here. Well, I don't blame them.

So it's up to Mr. No Laugh to heave open the double doors which, to my amusement, isn't easy.

But then they're open and light streams into the dim hallway and I think to pull my hood over my eyes before I'm led into the heart of the monster.


	2. Chapter 2

Yeah, so here's chapter two. I don't know if you'll like it buuuuut. Yeah. I hope you do. comments are GREATLY appreciated. Thanks! Also: disclaimer: I accidently spelled carlosevaristo34 name wrong last time. So that's that. Sorry about that sooooo much.

* * *

I keep my hood above my eyes at all times. I don't know why I do, but I guess I just can't face this almighty King. Even if hardly anybody has laid eyes on the guy and I'd be one of the few, it's not like I'm going to get to brag about it. I'm probably going to get thrown in the dungeon... or worse.

As soon as I step inside, I notice how quiet it is. At first I think the room may be empty until he hear inquisitive murmurs and shuffling of feet. From beneath my hood, I notice the armored boots of maybe thirty-some guards lined up, spears at the ready. There goes any chance of escaping here.

Mr. No Laugh leads me up a long blood-red carpet past several guards and slows me to a halt ten feet away from the throne. If I try hard enough, I can just barley make out big, thick, black boots stomped into the ground, and my stomach flops.

I can't believe this. I can't believe it's...

"Your Majesty!" bellows Mr. No Laugh suddenly, startling me. "May I address you, sir?"

There's the soft sound of heavy breathing, a clank of metal and then in an uproarious tone, "I grant you the permission to speak, knight."

I stop dead cold. That voice. Where have I heard it before?

Thinking hard, I absently rub the back of my right hand which seems to tingle.

"Sir, I have brought with me a prisoner I caught this morning," Mr. No Laugh calls.

"And what has he done?" the King asks, sounding remotely interested.

"She, sir. It is a she," corrects my guard.

"I'm not a dog, I'm not an it," I grumble only loud enough for No Laugh to hear. He grunts.

"Ahhhh... a girl," muses the King. I can just picture him up there on that throne, one foot tossed on the armrest, his hand stroking his long beard, a malicious glint in his wrinkled eye. Disgusting and ugly. "Well, what has she done, knight?"

"Caught her stealin' from one of your stores. Fifty packs of sugar priced at nine thousand rupees," he states.

There's a silence before the King breaks into peeling laughter that echoes around the soundless hall. Then one by one, the rest of the guards are all laughing in chorus, except No Laugh. I can practically hear him blushing from here. I giggle silently.

"Oh, Linus... ha ha ha..." chuckles the King. "... You're too funny. Hahaha!"

Linus (wow, what a stupid name for such a "tough" guy) shuffles his feet and bows his head. He clears his throat and begins to say something but the King cuts him off. "Off with you. I don't need you here."

Linus immediately obeys and skyrockets out of the throne room, slamming the doors behind him. Ha, that's what you get you big ogre.

After that, the hall falls silent again. You could almost hear a pin drop in this place. The King clears his throat. "And the rest of you can go to. I'll deal with this one myself."

They other guards follow Linus's footsteps but not as rushed as the latter's. I watch their feet shuffle past and out the doors behind me. As soon as they leave their clanking of armor fades off into the distance down the hall and the doors fall shut with a heavy bang.

I turn back to the ground, not wanting to look at the King because I don't really want to see his warty, pimpled ugly face. But the King has other idea's.

"What are you doing here?" he finally asks belatedly.

"Didn't he just tell you?" I ask brashly. Gods, why do I have such a big mouth?

The King is amused though. "Hm, you townsfolk are a lot more cheeky than I thought. But I want to hear it from you. Why are you here?"

If it was anyone, ANYONE, but the King, I'd answer with something smart and cocky. Sadly, this isn't anybody else and I say slowly, "...I was caught stealing sugar..."

"I'll take that as a confession," he booms then adds, "Normally, I'd have you convicted but... Sugar?" He grumbles to himself. "Okay, you know what?... Ugh... That stupid idiot Linus is such a buffoon. This is what he brings me? I thought I was going to have some stomach ripping time but NO! I should fire him..." While the King goes on about how stupid Linus is, I can't help but try to place that voice with a face. I heard it somewhere recently. Like, very recently. But I feel so stupid that I can't picture him!

"Did you hear me?" he suddenly says, breaking my train of thought.

"Huh? What'd you say? Did you say something?"

I can feel him roll his eyes. "I said you can go." Then he adds, "But I don't want to ever hear from you again, or else I might just kill you." He breaks into blood-curdling laughter.

...Wait, did he just say I can go? No penalties? Just go?

Holy Hylia, I'm out of here!

I whirl around on heel, not even saying thanks –– hey, he said he wanted to rip my stomach open. Why say thanks? –– and dash from my spot in this hall.

Only one problem: as I whirl around, my right hand flies out of my cloak and circumstantially catches on a ray of sunlight flitting in from a stained glass window. This wouldn't be a problem if... there wasn't unexpectedly a weird marking on the back of the hand. I stare at it, mouth gaping, my breath hitching in my throat.

What the? What is that? I've never had that there before! What the heck?! W-what is that? That glowing triangle?

…...

Am I going totally crazy?

The King gasps from behind me and shouts out a thunderous, "...HEY! HEY, STOP RIGHT THERE!"

I freeze, my feet feeling like lead weights. In a panic, I look down at my glowing hand and start rubbing at it, as if trying to get it off. Somewhere in the back of my mind I can hear the thumping of shoes running towards me but I'm too distracted by this funky mark.

But why am I not moving? He's getting closer. I can hear him. He's getting closer and closer and I'm not moving.

I need to move.

An icy hand grips my wrist.

Too late.

I'm swung around with great momentum, causing my hood to go flying off my head, my hair falling down my back. And I meet the king's eyes for the first time.

No, NOT first time. I suddenly know where I've heard his voice before... It was this morning, when I was lying in bed. The king, this man (or boy, really –– he looks only my age), he's the one from my dream.

Which makes this much sense. How would I know what he looks like? You know, maybe I'm still in that dream and I never woke up.

That, or I'm cracked... Hopefully it's the former.

There's a raw silence as we stare at wide-eyed at each other. It's only interrupted by the rhythmic beating of my own heart in my throat. Any moment it could burst out my mouth.

As I stare, a name suddenly comes to me. _Link. _His name is Link. I know that for a fact. Only the gods know how I know because I sure as hell don't.

In time as slow as a snail, I watch in horrific silence as Link, his mouth hanging past his chin, begins to shout out something so loud it rivals thunder.

"GUARDS! GUARDS, GET IN HERE!"

Instantly the doors explode open and the stomping of boots and the clatter of metal fills the room along with shouts of battle.

Pretty much stiff and frozen, turning from side to side in bewilderment and disorder, I watch as the throng of knights rush towards where me and Link stand.

"Sir! Sir!" pants an oncoming knight, his intricate tabard swaying past his legs. He comes to a halt in front of us, his visor clanking on his head. "Sir, what is it?"

That's when something on his tabard makes me look twice. That shape there... that's what's on the back of my hand! That shape with the three triangles, that's what made me realize I'm totally nuts! And I knew I've seen it before! It's in the crest of Hyrule!

What would the crest of Hyrule be doing on the back of my hand though?

"Sir, what is it you need?" huffs the knight, bowing deeply.

Link thrusts me towards him, his fingers holding tight onto my arm. "Take this girl and kill her!"

His words draw me out of my trance-like state. _Kill me?_ Did he just say to kill me? Ha, that's hilarious. He thinks he's going to kill me...! . .

Sorry, I have a different agenda. And it doesn't involve getting sliced and diced.

With strength I didn't know I possessed I break my arm from his snake hand. He gasps and reaches out to grab me again but he's too late because I duck between his legs. With a disgruntled "Aaaaah!" he goes crashing face-first into the floor. His extensive golden crown goes clattering a few feet away, kicked across the floor by the stomping guards. Ooh, he's going to feel that fall tomorrow.

Not taking time to laugh since Link's shouting out orders for guards to shoot me, stab me, whatever, I spin and hightail it the other way.

_Okay, okay, _I think urgently as I run. _Where to? Where am I going?_

Refusing to start hyperventilating, I take in my surroundings: There's the magisterial throne inlaid with gems, there's a bunch of stained glass windows that rise up to the ceiling, the large door, the whole army of guards, and Link in his ugly black boots and ugly black robes with that stupid ugly black cape. Really, it looks bad with his complexion and blonde hair. Maybe he'd look better with a big dent in his face.

But there's no way out. The door is obviously not an option. And there aren't any else in here. This, as Impa would say, it quite a stitch.

Suddenly a guard raises his arm revealing a huge crossbow positioned in his hands. He pulls the trigger and then a thin brown arrow is hurtling at me with top speed. I throw myself to the ground in the nick of time, the arrow grazing my ear. Jeez, that could've hurt.

"Idiot!" Link shouts to the archer. He grabs the crossbow himself and fires a few at me. I roll out of the way and each lodges deep into the ground where I had just been. Hm, who's the idiot now, Link?

I dig the balls of my feet into the ground and push myself into a run. I pump my arms at my sides, face twisted into a frown, head low. Somewhere I heard it's better to make yourself as small as possible when being shot at. Kudos to that guy.

_ Fwing!_

"OUCH!" I scream in pain as something sharp hits me in the back of my arm. My hand flies to assess the danger and is met by fresh blood and something long sticking out of the skin. Great, it's an arrow.

Whimpering to myself, I pull it out in one swift movement and bite my tongue to keep from screaming in agony.

"HIYAH!"

I look up just in time to see a spear tearing headlong at me, thrown by Link. With a gasp, I dive to my side and land hurt-arm first. SWEET MERCIFUL DIN!

The spear, of course, lands safely, sticking out of the ground at a forty-five degree angle. That would've have hurt a lot more than my landing...

Gee, what happened to the good ol' "You can go?"

"Dammit!" Link screams savagely. I turn to him. "Gimme another spear! Now!"

Oh, no. Not another one. Sorry, I gotta go.

I weakly push myself up onto my knees and crab-walk backwards towards the spear. My shoulder hits it first and I look up it's shaft. Hey, that could work.

I use it to pull me up to my feet and I yank it out of the ground, holding it in both hands to protect me. The guards rushing at me falter for a moment, eying the spear. I thrust it out in front of me, growling and trying to look a lot tougher than I am.

It doesn't work.

Apparently they realize a girl with a spear can't stand against a hundred men with swords and bows.

…..and I though it had them fooled...

Another arrow goes zooming past my head, only centimeters from my pointed ear. It chops some of my hair off along with it, the strands falling to the floor. Aw, dang it. Now it's going to look weird.

But hair is, like, the LAST of my worries. I watch in dread as Link, in a fit of anger, chucks another spear at me. I roll to avoid it and dash away to the side of the room. My knuckles are still wrapped around the spear and I think I should use it. But I can't even begin to throw it since my throwing arm is ka-put. Plus, I don't even know _how_ to throw a spear.

I make drinks. I don't fight.

That's when a plan spontaneously comes to me. I obviously can't run out that door since it's heavily clad with guards waiting to slash at me. The throne is useless. The windows...

They do say when life gives you lemons... you make lemonade.

Or in my case you jump out a window.

I start off at a sprint towards a select window on the other side of he hall. At first this confuses the guards because why would I run straight at them? Even King Link, standing at the front of the advancing knights, stops mid-throw to gape at me. But jokes on them because I'm not running at _them_. I swerve around and take a large detour and run right on past them. What fools.

I'm nearing the window now, and life returns to the guards because I can hear a few mutter, "What's she doing? Killing herself?"

That's what you think.

I stick the spear sharp end out first to hopefully protect me and seal my eyes shut, praying to Din this works.

And then someone finally figures out what I'm doing, probably Link, because he screams, "Shoot her now! She's going to get away!"

But his command wasn't nearly fast enough. Because pressure pushes on the spear, glass shutters all over the place and then I'm free-falling my way down to the ground.

Right. Maybe I should have thought this through a bit. In a few seconds I'm going to be flatter than a pancake and it'll take a spatula to scrape up my remains.

But then I suppose the Goddesses take pity on me and bless with with instincts. I open my eyes against the wind and throw the spear into the castle wall beside me. And it couldn't have been sooner.

The spear holds fast and since my hand is practically glued to the shaft, I hold fast with it. At first I'm afraid my weight will snap the wood in half, but to my luck it doesn't.

I look up above me and watch Link plus a few guards appear in the fragmented window I jumped through. And Link looks pissed.

"Ha!" I call up to him, making his lips pucker. "Missed me! Missed me! Now you got to kiss me!" I start making kissing noises, smacking my lips up at him. He scowls.

I know I'm seventeen and should be acting way more mature than I am now, but I can't help it.

"I'll get you!" he shouts down at me, shaking a fist. "Get down there and get her," he commands to the guards who disappear right away. He looks back down at me, glowering.

I smile brightly up at him and wiggle my fingers in a wave. Secretly, I'm laughing because he thinks I'm still going to be down here for the guards to catch.

He must think I'm dumb.

With a wary glance down at the eight foot drop, I tell myself it's better than getting captured and brought back to square one.

I bite my lip and hold my breath, releasing what little grip I had on the spear and plummet back down through the air.

This fall is fast and short, but way more painful. Because I hit the ground feet first and then land on my butt. There's a loud _snap!_ and pain emits from my ankle. Great, now that's broken too! How can this get any worse?

"After her!"

I turn to my right to see guards flooding out a door, sprinting at me. Oh, there's worse.

Struggling to get onto both my feet I figure my ankle must be broken or sprained because it can only take so much pressure. But I swallow my pain and hobble through the courtyard away from the guards.

Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. That's me when I try running from them. Ouch, my leg. Ouch, my arm. But mainly my leg. Ouch. Ouch.

I run through the daisies that rise up to my ankles and gather my cloak up in my arms. Even though it's helping me with the rain in my eyes, it tripping me up and becoming a nuisance. With my dormant ankle, I can't afford that thing screwing me up too.

At this snail rate, the guards are going to catch up with me soon. In fact, they're so close I can even hear their breathing. At least they aren't shooting. That would be worse.

Rushing water suddenly comes into earshot and I round a castle corner only to come skidding to a halt at the moat, the freezing babbling water gurgling below me. The guards at the drawbridge catch notice of me too and start after me, pointing and scowling. The guards behind me also round the corner and now I _am _cornered.

There's only one option left.

I jump into the moat.

The freezing water hits me like a freight train and I sink deep into it, my hair and dress and cloak billowing out around me. A thousand tiny needles of cold dig into my skin, making me flinch and squirm. I swipe out with my arm, paddling upwards to the surface. My fingers break the sheet of ice first and when my face does, I take in big gasps of air. My arms flail about, trying to stay above the water, trying to keep breathing.

The guards above me stomp their feet and curse, shoving each other and pointing angrily at me. I allow the current to carry downwards on it's journey to who knows where. I swim past the drawbridge that's suddenly lowered and more guards storm out led by who other than Link. A guard points me out, the blotch of blonde in the blue, and Link in a futile attempt throws his empty crossbow at me. It lands a few feet away with a splash, spraying my already wet face with water. I blink against it and watch Link stomp and tear at his hair, punching at guards angrily.

As for me, I continue to drift off down the moat, past the castle, past more guards who point at me and shake their heads, past everything.

Eventually the moat gets rougher, tossing and turning me around in it's current. The castle disappears in front me and I turn a sharp corner. Buildings start to pop up around me, water flowing out a few drainage pipes, filled with chunks of stuff I really don't want to discover. To try and climb out here would be stupid because I can't, the walls rise to high. So I swim put.

The moat continues to carry me through the city, turning corners and flowing under bridges. I don't even see anyone, or else I would have called for help.

In time, the buildings start to disperse and are scattered more scarcely around, the spaces starting to fill in with trees. I pass under a large wall, the river barley low enough to avoid me bumping my head. I turn back and face the tall brick wall, the portcullis that is permanently sealed shut to Hyrule field, and try to swim towards the edge but I'm quickly pushed away by the current.

Great, it's going to take forever to walk back here.

The river flows through the field nonchalantly and slowly, but still too strong enough for me to pull myself out of. I eventually give up and let the current lead me through the thickening trees and bushes.

I'm well aware of how cold I am, of how my toes and my fingers are numbing to the point I don't even know if their moving or not. The trees begin to get hazy around me and I fight to keep my eyes open against the rain. The river's constant gurgling fills my ears, until all I can hear is a loud pounding _wooooosh_.

Rain sprinkles my face, not that it makes much of a difference, and I close my eyes against it. Eventually the water lulls me into unconsciousness and I black out.

I know no more.

(oh, so legit. A great ending sentence)

* * *

"Is she alive...?"

Uhh... I hurt all over. ….Why do I hurt all over?

"I don't know. You should poke her."

Mmm... poke me? I think I'm dead... Wait, who said that?

"Me poke her? Why don't you?"

…...Because I'm too tired. Oh, wait. There's another person there. Two people...

I hurt so bad.

"Fine. But if she jumps at me, I'm going to kill you."

Those voices... they sound so close... So close to my face.

"But I think she's dead. It's okay. Just do it."

There's something digging into my cheek.

My eyes flash open and I grunt loudly.

"AHHH! SHE'S GOING TO KILL ME!"

A flash of green goes flying backwards and then they land on their rump. The other green thing, the one standing, eyes the fallen one warily.

I groan loudly, feeling the pain from all over my body and try to push myself to a sitting position. But I'm so weak I flop back down. Ughhh... I'm all wet!

"Hey are you okay?" asks a comforting voice, the one I recognize that the first speaker. They bend over next to my head and look at me with concerned blue eyes.

I blink away the blurriness and see the face of a young girl, probably only ten, staring down at me, her puffy blonde hair hanging in her face. Oh, whoa...

The other person, a porky boy about the same age with spiked brown hair, pushes himself to his feet, face red in embarrassment. He dusts off his green shorts and huffs angrily. "What did I say about killing you?"

The girl rolls her eyes. "Stop being such a baby, Mido." She looks back down at me. "Can you hear me, Miss? Hello?"

I open my mouth and suck in some air. Ew, what's that disgusting taste in my mouth? Goddess, that's horrid.

"Y-yeah, I can hear you," I stammer weakly.

"Great!" she quips excitedly. "See, Mido I knew she wasn't dead!"

"Hmph. You just got through saying she was," he leers.

The girl scoffs, blowing her bangs out of her eyes. "Whatever."

"...Who are you guys?" I ask them, trying to clear my head of confusion. Because those crazy events of the king, the guards and the castle are slowly starting to sink in and I really don't want a headache right now.

"I'm Fado," the girl pronounces cheerily. "And this," she thumbs to the boy, "Is Mido. But I can see you have already met."

"I think so," I say, looking at Mido. "You're the one who poked me, huh?"

"I ONLY poked you because _she_ made me," he says, nose in the sky. "Besides, I don't like touching your kind anyway."

"My kind?" I repeat hotly. "And what might that be?"

He doesn't respond and only taps his foot for a few seconds before spitting out an angry, "You TALL people!"

I roll my eyes. What a kid.

"What about you, Miss? What's your name?" questions Fado over Mido's angry huffing.

"Zelda," I reply shortly, rubbing my head. "My name's Zelda."

"What a pretty name!" compliments Fado.

"Thanks," I grumble, disturbed by the horrendous pain in my temple. Fado doesn't so much as notice my mood.

"You're welcome, Zelda! Good to meet you!" she beams ever-so-perma-happy at me.

I don't smile back. Instead I look confusedly around me. Where am I? In a forest with a bunch of trees, that's for sure. And more specifically, I'm laying half submerged in a gurgling river, the upper half of my body covered in dirt and sand. Oh, great.

"Hey, Fado... um, where am I?"

The little girl's eyes brighten and she says proudly, "The Kokiri Forest, of course! Home of the Kokiri Tribe!"

…...

_The Kokiri Forest?!_

I shoot to my feet like a rocket, looking around me in more detail. Oh shoot, how long have I been here? Hopefully not long because almost everybody knows what happens when you stay here too much... you turn into a skin-less, eyeball-less FREAK otherwise known as a Stalfos... Oh I feel funny already.

"Miss, are you alright?" asks Fado, hand at her mouth.

I look down to where she barley rises to my waist. Mido walks up next to her. I look at them both with a frightened look.

"Guys, I need to leave. Can you show me the way out of here? I really need to go." And not just cause I'll turn into a Stalfos if I don't. Impa will probably kill me if I don't return right away.

So I _need_ to go.

"Leave?" echoes Fado. "But you just got here...!"

"No, I've been here awhile I think... I'm starving and stiff. I need to go." I stretch my arms above my head and my back cracks loudly confirming my point.

"Well if you're hungry come back to our village! We'll feed you," offers Fado annoyingly.

"No, you don't understand," I say getting slightly agitated. "You see, I was at the castle and the King had me and if I don't get back –– "

Both Mido and Fado interrupt me with a gasp. Fado starts trembling, big eyes turning into oceans, her lower lip quivering. Then without warning she bursts into tremulous tears and buries her face in her tiny palms. Mido pats her shoulder comfortingly while her shoulders shake with shivers and sobs. After Fado's can-do, rainbow attitude, it's quite a shock to see her so upset.

"Er, did I say something?"

Since Fado is too busy crying her eyes out, Mido takes the liberty and answers for her. "We don't speak of the king here."

"Why not?" I ask stupidly.

He gives me a glare and pats Fado's shoulder some more. "Because he's a big POOPIE!"

That could almost be funny. But it doesn't answer my question.

"For real... you don't you?" I ask.

"I just said! Do you Hylians EVER listen?" huffs Mido snottily.

….. I wonder if I'll get in trouble if I drowned this kid in the river here.

"I-it's cause," Fado speaks up from her hands, "c-cause... h-he used t-to... live here!" She explodes in more tears and weeps back into her hands.

"Nice one," snaps Mido looking at his crying friend.

"I didn't do anything!" I retort haughtily. "Someone needs to teach you some manners!"

He throws his nose in the air. "Not my problem!"

I frown darkly at him and make an ugly face. Good thing he didn't notice.

"M-maybe you s-should some back t-to the v-village," chokes out Fado, sniveling and snorting.

"Ew! Her in our village?" scorns Mido. "No! She doesn't even want to come!"

"Actually," I say over Mido's snobby voice, "I would like to come back with you, if you don't mind."

"Okay," she says sounding a little bit more happy. She sniffs and wipes her nose with her arm. "F-follow me."

I turn to Mido and give the kid a _ha-ha _type of look. He scoffs and keeps his nose upturned, following Fado.

With a sigh, I follow too.

* * *

About half an hour later, I'm seated in a too small chair at a too small table in a too small house surrounded by a bunch of too small people. There's a bowl full of some sort of green leafy stuff in front of me that I would like to call salad but I don't think that's what it is. It was slapped there in front of me a couple minutes ago and I get the just I'm supposed to eat it. Everybody else is. In fact, they're eating it with their hands. Sadly, this "salad" doesn't look finger-licking good.

Among these ravenous kids are Fado and the atrocious Mido, who sit together. The rest are unknown. But they're quite the happy bunch, throwing their salads and laughing together.

When we had entered the kid village, they all ran up to me and were delighted to invite me into their little abode. I don't think they'd ever seen a real Hylian before and it was quite the sight for the lot of them. I myself had never seen so many Kokiri before and I was equally fascinated.

In a disorganized rush, I told them my name while a fresh-faced Fado told them what I was doing and how her and Mido had stumbled across me passed out on a riverbank while on a walk. I even picked up on some of their names. They're kind of easy seeing as though they're names like Know-It-All brothers and The Twins.

How original.

But what intrigued me the most was the little fairy partners they each had hovering over their heads and shoulders. I'd only heard of them, of course, since Kokiri can't leave the forest and I'm new here. So seeing the dainty little people in their garbs barley passing as acceptable was quite interesting.

The Kokiri, along with their little fairies, also tended graciously to my wounds. Turned out my ankle was actually broken and I almost had gotten an infection in my arrow wound.

Remind me to punch a guard for that one day.

They both healed up real nice but I'm still instructed to take it easy on my foot. That's why I've been condemned to stay the night here while it continues it's healing process.

These kids just don't get it, do they?

But they were all so nice and generous it was hard to yell and say no and smack them, trying to make them understand.

After that, I was led to a house I could touch the roof of if I reached high enough. The rest of the tribe assembled here too making for a cutesy, crowded, chatty dining experience. All said they were eager to hear my encounter with King Link but seeing as how distracted they are with their salads, I doubt anybody will be talking about that for awhile.

Which is really upsetting. I'm sitting here, turning Stalfos by the moment and all they care about is their food. Not that I can say anything about it. Every time I try, they interrupt me with their own stories and tales.

And that's the only reason I came here anyway: because I was curious to hear about King Link living here before. Nobody even knows where he came from. He just suddenly showed up one day, slit our old King's throat and declared himself the new King. Who would have thought a guy like that would have come from a place like the Kokiri Forest.

Besides, maybe this would explain something about why he randomly attacked me and that symbol on the back of my hand. Remembering it, I checked to see if it was still there. It was. I now keep it hidden in my pocket in case something like that happens again. A bunch of little salad eaters don't seem all that threatening but there's twice as many as me.

So I sit like a good lady, gently prodding at the salad with a fork, shoving it around my plate disdainfully. I listen to some of what they're saying but tune out for most of it. It hardly makes sense.

"Hey, hey, remember that time when we went fishing?" speaks up one of the Know-It-All brothers, shoveling more salad in his mouth.

One of his brothers erupt in laughter, slamming his fist on the table. "I do! Oh boy, that was good!"

A young girl, one of the Twins, sighs, picking at her leaves. "That wasn't that funny, you know."

Her sister elbows her good-naturally and laughs. "Aw, yeah it was. It was hilarious!" Her sister sighs.

"Yeah, good times. You know what was better though?" asks Mido, arms all over the table. "When _you_," he points at a brother, "tried climbing that tree to get that hornets nest and got stung by the bunch of them."

The whole table breaks into high-pitched squealing, pointing and laughing at the flushed brother.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. That was years ago," he says, not laughing anymore.

"It was only last week!" blurts a short little Kokiri guy I hadn't noticed before. The table laughs some more.

"Ooh, ooh! I know one!" pipes a little orange-haired girl. They all look at her, still ribbed with laughter. "Remember that time when Link fell into the river and we had to fish him back out?"

The laughter dies away almost instantly. All you can hear the the clinking of my fork on my bowl which I set down awkwardly. Did I just hear that girl correctly? Did she say _Link_?

Through the awful silence, I ask quietly, "Who's Link?"

Everybody looks at their plates except Mido who clenches his fork until his knuckles turn white. "He was one of us," he seethes spitefully. His eyes fixate on the middle of the table, looking steamed. It's quiet for a second before he adds, "He lived here his whole life until he became King."

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down. Did he said what I think he said?

"So the King... is Link?"

Mido and the rest of the Kokiri nod, all looking mighty overwrought.

"H-ha!" I jest, my breath hitching in my throat. "Ha ha! That means I'm _not_ crazy! That means I was right! That means... I probably _am_ crazy." I sink back into my chair, defeated. I must be crazy. Even though it's confirmed the King is named Link and I didn't just make that up, it's also confirmed I'm a psycho because I knew that. You don't just guess an unusual name and get it right. Too bad for me.

The Kokiri watch as I throw my little party that turns into a pitiful one and don't speak as I grumble about being crazy. I don't blame them. Who wants to speak to a crazy person?

I finally regain my train of thought and ask a question I've been wondering this whole time. "If Link lived in the Kokiri Forest how come he's not a Stalfos? I know for a fact he isn't Kokiri."

Nobody wants to answer that. Nobody wants to talk about Link. Well, you better get used to it because I'm going to be asking a lot of questions.

It's one of the Twins who speaks this time. She says, "He was put to live here by his late mother when he was a baby and the Great Deku Tree has taken care of him his self."

That name sparks a memory in my mind. But not a whacky one. No, this one's of Impa. I'm sitting at the table and I'm only seven, my feet dangling over the chair, not long enough to touch yet. Impa's at the stove cooking something yummy. She's telling me something.

_"The Great Deku Tree is the guardian of the forest," she says, back turned. "He watches over the tribe called Kokiri and makes sure they are healthy and happy."_

_ "So like you," I say, twirling a spoon around in my little fingers. "You're like my guardian."_

_ She turns around and looks sternly at me with her red eyes. "Yeah. Like me. I'm your guardian. And the Great Deku Tree is theirs."_

_ "Because they don't have parents, huh?" I ask, my eyes looking down at my swinging feet. "That's like me too."_

I blink and return to reality. That's where I've heard of the Deku Tree before. From my own guardian.

"So the Great Deku Tree raised him?" I ask curiously, trying hard not to get upset over the fact I don't even have parents.

"Yeah. He treated him like a son," replies the same Twin.

Hey, there's an idea. If the Great Deku Tree raised him, I might be able to ask him everything about he knows about the King. That might give me more information on why he attacked me.

"Where can I talk to the Tree?" I ask, getting excited.

But Mido pops the balloon of my hope. "He's dead."

Oh.

Feeling deflated, I exhale, staring glumly at my bowl of salad. There goes that idea. "How'd he die?" I ask numbly.

"He didn't just die," says Mido, his tone getting angrier. "He was killed! Killed by Link!"

I look up at the upset kid, stewing in hate, fork dug into the table. This sets the rest of the Kokiri off into sobs and wails, abandoning their salads and crying into their bowls.

"Wait, Link killed the Deku Tree? His own father?!" I shout over the lamentations.

"He didn't even feel sorry!" shouts Mido back. "He just ran right out of the forest after I tried talking to him about it!" Then he joins the sobs of his friends.

I cross my arms over my chest, only slightly annoyed by their voices this time. What's more annoying than that though is this Link guy. Who does he think he is? He killed the life force of these little kids! Sure their voices are bothersome and the food's gross but you don't just get to kill their parent figure. That's wrong.

Soon their weeping and wails die down to just muffled sobs and snivels and I get to ask another question. "So Link used to live here in the forest... Why'd he leave? And how'd he become king? Wasn't he only, like, a little kid?"

Fado tackles this one. "He left just because he did. Right after he killed the Tree! Then he ran away and took over Hyrule!"

"So in other words he turned evil?" I question, things just starting to make a little sense. "Was he not evil before?"

"He wouldn't hurt a fly," says a Know-It-All brother. "We don't know what happened. He just... snapped."

"Sounds like it," I roll my eyes. He sure as heck snapped. I still remember that day he came and took over Castletown. The fires, the shouts, the rushing guards (who were good guys back then and wouldn't arrest for idiotic things), the blood. I remember getting pulled from my bed by Impa who dragged me from our house and yanked me through the burning alley ways. I remember getting pulled half-asleep through town, passing screaming mothers cradling their babies, past lost children, past murdered people in the streets, past elders who didn't even know where to run to.

It was horrible.

"But there's nothing we can do now," distresses a Twin, shaking her head sorrowfully.

"There would be if Saria was here!" comments the short Kokiri.

"Oh yeah, Saria!" she says. "Oh, poor Saria."

"Poor Saria!" echoes the rest of the Kokiri.

I perk up. "Saria? Who's Saria?"

Fado looks at me sadly and answers in a voice about to break into tears. "Saria was our best friend! But now she's gone!"

"Did she turn evil too?" I ask lightly, trying to make a joke. Nobody laughs. They just look lost and confused.

"No, she isn't evil. Why would you think that?" asks Fado slowly.

I wipe my smile off my face and grimace, clearing my throat. "Nothing, never mind. It was supposed to be... never mind. So... where'd she go?"

"We don't know," says Mido. "She said she had to go take care of business in her 'special spot' a week ago and hasn't come back yet."

"Well, did you try looking for her?" I suggest.

He glowers at me. "Of course we did. We looked all over the Lost Woods for her. But we couldn't find her."

"That's... weird. Could she have left the forest?" I ask, instantly flinching. Duh, she couldn't have. She's Kokiri. Mido's face says exactly this.

"Well, where else could she have gone?" I ask, wrinkling my brow. "Is there another place she could've gotten to?"

They all look deep in thought before shaking their little heads. "No, there wouldn't be. Besides, we looked everywhere we could. And we couldn't find her at all," says a Know-It-All brother.

"That's unfortunate. You know, maybe she got lost and you just didn't come across her yet. I bet she's out there right now. It's fine," I assure them. But inside I know that's probably not the truth. That poor girl is probably dead.

I, of course, don't say that. I don't want them crying again.

"I think it's time we get to bed," says one girl flatly, throwing her fork in her bowl. She pushes herself from the table and takes the bowl and leaves the room. Another girl follows her lead.

Eventually all of them get up and deposit their bowl in the other room, and Fado takes mine. Well, that's too bad. I still have a bunch of questions but I suppose they'll just have to wait. I'll be sure to ask Impa as soon as I get home.

I watch as each of the little green-clad kids bid each other goodnight and disappear out the front door into the night. At last it's just me and Fado.

"I didn't upset them, did I?" I ask, looking around at the empty room.

"Nah," she replies, shrugging her shoulders. "We've all been unhappy since Saria left us. You didn't do anything."

"I can't help but feel bad though. It must be awful losing a friend like that," I say.

Fado sighs deeply. "It's more awful then you'd think..."

There's a dark silence filled with only crickets chirping following her words, making me shudder.

"And you have no idea what happened to her, right?" I ask softly.

She suddenly opens her eyes and stares right at me. I shift in my seat uncomfortably.

"I think I might."

"What?" I say. "You know what happened to her? Why did you tell them?"

"Because," she snaps. "If I told them they'd only get more upset. And I said 'I think.' I don't know for sure."

"Well then what happened?" I demand, leaning forward in my seat.

She turns away for a brief moment and then says, "I think it was the King."

Bitter silence.

LONG bitter silence.

"...I don't understand..."

She turns to me in a flash. I can see her blue eyes filled with unfaltering tears. "I-I don't want to talk about it... All I know is that both of them were close before he... turned. And since we couldn't find her in the whole forest... I hate to think the worse!"

She breaks out into wholehearted tears. I sit there awkwardly, watching her shoulders rack with sobs. I get the just I should say something but my mind is blank. I have no idea how to talk to this girl and I even if I said something I don't think it would matter anyway. She wouldn't understand anything I had to say.

"Here, I'll show you where you can sleep tonight," she offers, sucking up her tears. Apparently she doesn't _need_ my advice.

She waits for me by the door and I follow her out into the cool night, ducking to avoid bumping my head on the door. The cool air greets me, along with that particular smell of night.

I follow her through the little village as she expertly leads me across the way to a squat little tree house with a dangling ladder. I climb up it onto the balcony and enter the room. As soon as I pass the curtain, the smell of dust and mold and musk hits me square in the face. I cough out, slamming my fist into my chest while Fado lights a lantern in the corner. Now that the room's been lit, I look around and see why it smells the way it does.

Dust. It's everywhere. On everything. The pitchforks, the pictures, the dresser. The mirror above the drawers looks aged and I can hardly make out my face in it. There's even inches of dust across the ground that our feet leave trails in. Gross.

"Well, home sweet home, huh?" I say cheerily to Fado who returns my smile.

"Yep. The bed's over there. You can dust it off or just sleep on the mattress. I'll come wake you up tomorrow so you don't have to stay any longer than you have to. There's probably people looking for you, right?"

"Right," I respond. "Thanks, Fado. For everything. It means a lot."

She beams proudly and puts her hands on her hip. "See, I KNEW you'd like it here! I knew it was a good thing for you to come here! Well, goodnight Zelda. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, goodnight. See you later."

She smiles again and turns around, trotting out of the room.

But I call her back. I can't help it. I need to ask.

"Hey Fado?" She stops and looks over her shoulder.

"Yeah? Are you okay?"

"...I am. I just... Who's house is this?"

Her eyes widen but she quickly hides it with a yawn. "Oh no one's. Just get some sleep. Bye!" She turns back around and tries to sprint away but I shout at her to stop. She turns and faces me the whole way.

"For reals, Fado. Who's house is this?"

She visibly winces and closes her eyes, exhaling deeply. "It's... It's Link's. ANYway, goodnight! See you tomorrow! Bye!"

She darts out the door, the curtain swishing behind her. And then I'm left alone in this cold, dark, empty room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Thank you to my loyal readers and your messages to me, they mean a lot! So here is this next chapter and i hope you guys like! Also, reviews would help a lot. I'd love any idea's so anyway, thanks in advance! Yeah! :3

* * *

It's so cold. No –– scratch that; it's bitterly freezing. For all I know, I could be standing naked in Snowpeak, blanketed in layers and layers of snow.

But what am I saying? How could I be in Snowpeak... if I can't even see anything? It's all just darkness; not a single ray of light, not one little speck of sun. Nothing. Actually, it's quite unsettling seeing as though I... can't be seeing.

Cold and dark. Not exactly the best combo.

I turn around in futile circles, still trying to see if I can spot some sort of light but it's in vain. I'm totally blind.

Where am I? I don't remember getting here. Wasn't I just in the Kokiri Forest...?

I consider taking a few steps forward but reluctantly restrain. I can't see the ground so I don't know the dangers that await me. A long dark pit? A trap? A cliff? It's best just staying here.

But I can't stay here forever. Staying in one place... that sounds pretty interesting. So one way or another I'm going to have to ––

_I know what you did..._

Oh no. No, no, no. That can't be what I think it was. Please don't let it be...

I turn around to where the words came from but see nothing. Figures.

But I know I heard those words. Unless the utter silence is playing tricks on my head, I heard someone hiss out that sentence.

I grip my shivering arms and glance around me, alert to every little sound. I can even hear my pulse throbbing in my head. Ba-boom. Ba-boom. Ba...

_I know what you did..._

There it was again. Great. This is fantastic. It's true. It's him. He's going to get me...

"H-Hello?" I call out through the dark, sounding a lot brave than I feel.

I wait for a response but get none. Just that high-pitched _riiiing_ in both my ears. Well, what did I think would happen? For him to shout out, "Hey! Yeah! So, I'm just here making sandwiches. You want one? Salami or Cucco?"

No.

Maybe I'm crazy. You know, that wouldn't be far from the truth. Maybe my mind finally caught up and is making me hear things. After what happened before it could be true.

_I know what you did..._

Arg! And there it is _again_! And he won't shut up? Why can't he leave me alone?! Why can't he just leave and forget about me? I don't even know what I did!

"Is someone there?" I call out, my voice stronger than the first time.

No response.

Hmmm... Maybe louder?

"Is someone out there?! Hello? I can hear you!"

_Sciiirrrrrrth..._

Whoa. W-What was _that_?

It was a cape. A cape dragging across the floor. I know that now. Maybe I should move now.

Sucking up my courage, I take a few tentative footsteps forward, my bare cold toes inching their way across the cold hard floor. I don't want to stay in place if he's coming towards me.

Suddenly, the cold empty room doesn't feel all that empty anymore. Before, my breath flew into the cold air, sending no vibrations back which told me there was nothing around. Now, I know he's in here with me.

_Sciiirrrrrrth... Sciiirrrrrrth... Sciiirrrrrrth..._

Running. I'm running now. Running blindly through the dark, glancing over my shoulder even though that doesn't do squat. The scratching soon progresses into the sound of footsteps, loud heavy ones, and then the sound of something even heavier dragging across the floor.

I start pumping my arms at my sides, my head tucked low, sprinting in anyway I can, not caring if I trip into an unseen pit. Maybe then I'll be safe from those footsteps. Maybe then he can't get to me.

Then, all at once, the footsteps stop. Everything falls silent again except for my fast and uneven breaths which I try to slow. Once I've recovered, I look around me, my stomach in my throat. It's still silent, but that doesn't mean he can't just jump out at me. I don't know where he's at. He could be to my left, to my right, above me... I stay standing alert to every tiny little sound I can possibly hear, even my hair whisping over my shoulders. Silence.

_I know what you did... Princess..._

Princess? I'm not a Princess! Hasn't he learned that by now? I know I'm not a princess. And he's just stupid!

_Princess, princess, _the word echoes all around me. He still couldn't have meant me. Because I am NOT who he's referring to. He's not after ––

Suddenly there's a presence at my left shoulder and I turn to meet it. Only to be confronted with darkness. None other than.

As soon as I turn, the feeling dissolves into the empty air as if I imagined it. I couldn't have imagined it though. He was there. He was so close. So freaking close.

Trying to swallow my building fear, I start walking across the uneven ground. I thrust my arms out all around me, taking precautions so I don't smack into something. If I were to hit and pass out, my situation would get a heck of a Dark World worse. He could just come, snatch me up and do whatever he wanted.

But it's okay. Because I'm not "princess." I'm not who he wants...

I think.

As I creep about in the darkness, I try to sense him again but I get nothing. Okay, I'm good for now. And at least that stupid hissing has qu––

_ I know what you did..._

Dammit!

My bare toe has come across some hard object on the ground and stubbed right into it. Bouncing around, foot clutched in both my hands, I spit through my teeth in pain. Great Din that hurt. Really bad.

After the worst of the pain has ebbed away, I bend over and feel the cold block of smooth stone with the slit in the top. I don't know what it is...

_I know what you did, princess, I know..._

I stand up, terror renewed and back up, looking around me in a panic. That sounded like it came from all around me. From every where. From ten of him. Okay now I'm officially freaked out. Not that I wasn't before.

Suddenly, without warning, his hand cups over my mouth and sends me flying into a nearby unseen object. Judging by the pain in my face, it's a brick wall.

Reeling from the dizzying attack, I wipe away the blood at my freshly busted lip and turn to him. Who I can't see of course, sending me into full blown panic mode. The words were one thing. He just hurt me physically.

I lash out in front of me, trying to swipe at him. At his face, or his chest or his arm. Anything to hit him. My fingers only grasp air. I bet I look like some sight to see. Flapping my arms around me furiously, trying to grasp on to something, sweat across my forehead, blood dripping down my lips. Yeah,what a sight.

I bend over, feeling across the ground only to hear _I know what you did... _once again.

I stand up, fear refreshed and huddle back against the wall, trying to peer through the dark to see him. That's when I notice something move. Just a shadow, which seems ridiculous since all I CAN see are shadows. But as clear as day, I saw him move.

Oh, and he's moving this way.

The hissing gets louder and louder as he approaches my defenseless form. Now all I can hear is that guttural hissing.

"Please," I manage to choke out underneath the lump in my throat, "don't hurt me."

_I know what you did..._

And then he's standing right in front of me, although I can't see his face. But I already know what I would see.

_I. Know. What. You. Did..._

If I wasn't scared to death, I would tell him to go learn new vocabulary. As it is, I'm about to pee my pants.

_I know what you did, Princess..._

"What?" I finally whisper, plucking courage out of nowhere. "What are you talking about? I'm not a princess!"

_I have the power Princess... I have the power... and I know what you did..._

"What are you talking about?" I call through he dark, wanting to see him to know where to punch his face in.

_I know what you did..._

Abruptly there's his hand at my throat, hurtling me back into a wall and I hit.

Hard. And painfully.

Stars fly around my eyes as my lungs gasp for air, staggering form the brutal onslaught. I claw at his hands wrapped tightly around my neck, desperate to get him off me, desperate to breath again. He only tightens his grip, making my need for air incline.

Tears form at the corners of my eyes as more and more time passes without oxygen. My tongue lolls out across my lips, as dry as sandpaper. My lungs throb with the need for air. My brain pushes against my skull. My fingernails dig into his hands but he doesn't so much as flinch.

"Stop," I gag forcefully. "P-please...! I-I can't breath! S-Stop...!"

And that's when he pushes his face down in mine and I get a real good long look at the sickly grinning choker.

I know who he is. I've seen him before. His shaggy blonde hair, his blue eyes, his scowling lips. They're all familiar. And so is the feeling to punch in his nose.

_I have the power, Princess, _he hisses again, so close my lips brush his. I flinch and gag. _I have the power... and I know... I know!_

That's the only thing I hear as my neck is pretty much snapped in half. As my eyes slam shut, as my lungs pop simultaneously, and as my world goes dark.

* * *

I wake panting, coated in dust that clings to my sweat. Noticing a figure in the corner of the room, I scream and jump back, shaking and shuddering. That's when I realize it's just my hung up cloak.

I exhale, embarrassed by my behavior. How pathetic.

I stare out the window at the dark trees hidden in the twilight. They look so cold and lonely out there. Reminds me of me. I'm so confused right now. I have so many questions and I can't ask anyone about them. I'm cold and I'm lonely right now and I'm sleeping in the evil King's bed. That doesn't help anything. It makes me replay those events of the castle. It makes me remind myself of how confused I am. The crest on my hand, the way the King wanted to kill me for no reason. That couldn't have been because of how I stole the sugar. And that leads to more questions that I can't answer.

_I'll leave here tomorrow, _I remind myself. _I'll sleep – or try – tonight and leave in the morning. Then I can ask Impa. Or someone back home. Maybe they'll have answers. Some _has_ to have them. Yeah, that sounds good._

I sigh and look down at my dust filled lap. I push my body down in the scratchy covers that smell like moth balls and tuck my arm under my chin. This rooms gives me the creeps. I close my eyes so I don't have to look at those pitchforks. But that's no good. I can see evil blue ice eyes murdering me with their glare. I can smell the murk, I can feel the cold.

I shudder and open my eyes, fixating them on a gleaming bowl on a shelf. I can see my tired reflection in it. I look like living death.

Against my deepest regrets because I really am tired, I haul myself out of bed and place my feet on the cold ground. I turn to the window and see the moon hovering over the clouds. I think it's past midnight.

Whatever time it is, I can't wait another twelve hours to leave. I can't stand the dusty smell in here and how I can barley even breath. I hate seeing these pitchforks that probably held blood all over them at one time. I hate being in this forest and I feel more stiff by the moment.

I want to leave.

I walk to one of the dressers and open the top drawer. Hmm, pens, pencils, paper, old photographs that have had water seep onto them. In one, I can just barley make out a boot and a hand. None of this is any good to me. I need something sharp, something that could kill if I need it...

Ah.

I turn to the wall that showcases a lovely assortment of sharp, heinous tools that could be either used for farming or torture. I choose the most deadly looking one; a pitchfork looking thing with spikes all over it. This will do.

I take it off it's hook and hold it firmly in my grimy hands. The weight feels about right and I take a few practice swings in each direction to get used to it. There's a loud crash from behind me and I whirl to see a few glass plates knocking off a shelf and crashing to the floor. Crap! That'll wake everyone up!

I look around me in a panic, checking the window to see if any lights flip on in the other houses. It remains dark.

"Phew..." I whisper and wipe the sweat from my forehead. "That wouldn't have been good."

With my new weapon of deadly choice, I quietly stalk from the small room that gives me the creeps and push through the curtain hanging over the threshold. Outside, the night is cool and crisp, a warm welcome from that room packing fifty-thousand pounds of dust. I inhale and exhale slowly, breathing in the smell of the trees before starting down the ladder. I drop to the ground and look around me to make sure there aren't any midnight walkers. The coast is clear.

I stand sharper and start to walk up the hill onto the path that leads me past houses where, if I listen close enough, I can hear deep snoring. Okay, that means everyone is asleep. That means I won't have any trouble whatsoever getting out of here. That means ––

"Does this mean you're leaving?"

I jump right of my skin and whirl to the voice, my weapon held high. Through the dark, I notice a small little figure walking closer to me that I come to realize is Fado. She holds a sad look on her dainty face.

"Does this mean you're leaving?" she repeats, glancing at my pick-ax.

I lower the weapon and sigh. "Yeah. I didn't want you to see."

"I heard the crash and figured it would be you," she says quietly.

"I just can't stay here longer. I really have to leave because crazy things have happened to me and I have someone who's probably going to kill me if I don't get back soon. I'm sorry Fado."

She shakes her head and closes her eyes. "Nah, it's okay. If you have to leave, that's fine. This isn't your home. I totally understand."

A hollow feeling replaces my stomach and I look at her curiously. Something about her just gives off the impression that she isn't the kid she looks to be. There's maturity behind those watery blue eyes.

"I'm glad you woke up though. It gives me a chance to say thank you for all you've done for me. You gave me a place to stay, food, and comfort. I would repay you somehow, but I think my wallet fell out when I washed down the river," I state sheepishly.

She laughs. "I don't want your money, Zelda. I just wanted..." She sighs and shakes her head. "Never mind."

I bend down next to her. "No, tell me. What'd you want? I seriously can get some money and bring it back."

She giggles. "No, Zelda! That isn't what I want! I just thought... Well, you see..." She takes a breath. "Things have been really weird around here lately and I really miss Saria. None of us know what's going on so I thought maybe you could help us or something... Cuz you know, you're from outside and all."

I smile at her. "Fado, you're right about that. Things have been weird. For me especially... And I really am sorry to hear about Saria. I can't do anything now because if I stay here any longer I will go crazy. But I do promise to find out answers. For both you and me. I promise that."

She looks into my eyes and smiles brightly. "Really? You promise to find Saria?"

I nod solemnly and hold up my pinkie. "I pinkie promise. It doesn't get more serious than that, now does it?"

She giggles and intertwines her little finger with mine and we shake on it. Then she hugs me tightly around the neck, almost making me choke. "Thank you, Zelda."

I hug her back. "No problem."

We stay like that for a few more seconds before I pull away and stand up. I dust off my dress and give her a thumbs up. "Well, I'm off. I'll come back and hopefully you'll find Saria by then, okay?"

She nods enthusiastically. "Of course! I look forward to it!" Then suddenly her expression darkens. "Wait Zelda... I need to tell you something. Um, your way out of here is through that tunnel there." I turn to look at the little portal thing a couple meters away. "When you're in there don't linger okay? You might want to take a torch too."

"A torch! What for?" I ask.

"Um, things can get a little dangerous."

"Dangerous?" I repeat shrilly, my stomach starting to shiver. "You never said anything about that!"

"Well, with that," she looks at my weapon, "you'll be fine. Probably. But don't worry! You'll be out in no time! Good luck!" She waves at me briefly before turning on heel and strutting off through the darkness back to her tiny little house.

I stand amid the dark and gape at her, totally thrown off guard. Dangerous?! When did this get dangerous?! I don't need that right now! I just need to get home!

_Yeah, so you're going to have to get through that, whatever it is. Or else you're going to turn into a Stalfos..._

I shudder at that thought and then face the dark tunnel. I start off towards it, shaking with each step. Was it just me, or did it suddenly get ten degrees colder?

The closer and closer I get to that gaping hole, the more and more I tighten my knuckles on my weapon. Hey, at least I'll have that.

Once I'm only two feet away and I can peer into the darkness, I take a deep breath and swallow, preparing myself for the worse which it probably will be.

* * *

** INTERLUDE:**

The King stood in his office and stared out his window which had a perfect view overlooking Castle Town. His blue eyes which held no amount of sympathy or compassion whatsoever were narrowed, busy calculating the town below him. He could see the many rows of ramshackle houses, low buildings and the town square smack in the middle. Of course, none of this was as beautiful as a castle town should be. An example of this was town square itself. Sure it had a fountain but it didn't spew any water. All it gurgled was murky, stagnate, stinky slime. The ground, paved cobblestone, could hardly be seen through it's thick layer of trash and litter. The people who bustled around down there looked like trash themselves. Little ants that scurried around, trying to hide from the rain that was drizzling from the clouds above.

As the King stood watching over his subjects, he couldn't have felt more powerful. Up in a huge castle all his own, in a town with people who obeyed his every word. Where all he had to do was flick a finger and have any one of those ants killed. Nod his head and have that part of town destroyed. It was great power which he held. Yet despite this, he was suffering inside.

Because even though he had everything he wanted, the only thing that he actually _did_ want, that was of importance to him, had evaded him. And it was all their fault. Those stupid worms down there. Those little commoners. Even though it _was_ only one of them that had screwed things up, he still felt as if they were all responsible for what had happened.

_I should kill them all, _he thought for a second. _No, no, that's a bad idea. If I killed them all, all I'd have to rule over would be the stupid guards._ He discarded his genocidal idea and continued to stare down at the villagers in silence.

"MY LORD!"

The King's office door banged open suddenly and light streamed in from the hallway. He jumped at the voice and turned around in shock as a young Gerudo woman -or girl rather- ran in. Her long red hair streamed behind her as she ran, face screwed in exhaustion. Two scimitars hung from her back and clanked as she ran, looking freshly sharpened and deadly.

She ran to a halt in front of the King and bent over, her hands resting on her knees in a need to catch her breath. She panted heavily and wiped sweat from her brow.

"Sonthe!" the King gasped in recognition at his Sergeant-at-Arms. "What are you doing here?"

"I... my squad... huff, what a run..." she panted, trying to swallow and cough at the same time.

"You're squad? What? Did they find her? Do you have her?" the King asked eagerly, looking behind Sonthe as if the answer was there.

Sonthe finally straightened out and saluted the King. He waved her off dismissively. "Yeah, yeah," he said. "So, what did you find? Did you catch her?"

The Gerudo girl frowned. "Negative, sir," she stated. The king balled his fists and drew in a sharp breath. "But!" she went on to distract the King from throwing one of his famous temper tantrums. "We did find this." She began to dig around in her large baggy pants until she found what she was looking for. She held it out to the King who took it eagerly.

"It was on the east side of the river that leads down South into the unattainable deep woods," she said as the King pawed at what he realized was a brown wallet/sack of some sort. Anxiously he tore open the gold drawstring and dumped the contents on his desk. A bunch of rupees fell forth (mainly green ones), a few waded up papers, a couple pens and then finally a small card with slanty handwriting. Being the only thing that interested the King, he held it closer to his face. It was a business card and it read: _The Coffee Cucco. Serving you the best coffee in Hyrule, chicken-abuse free! Your server today: Zelda!_

The King suddenly ripped the paper in two and threw them on the desk. "Sonthe!" he bellowed. She stood at attention. "Round up the knights. Go to this Coffee Cucco and take whoever you can find. Bring them to me."

"Yes sir!" barked Sonthe, saluting him. Then she dropped her hand, all military formality gone. Only childish curiosity remained. "But sir... may I ask what for?"

The King turned back his window and stared down at town square. He could barley make out the low white building with the cucco imprinted on the top. A fiendish grin broke out over his face.

"That girl thinks she can just get away with that, huh?" he said, mostly to himself. "I don't think so. No one gets away from me. I'm Link... So you'd better be ready, _Zelda_."

* * *

"Man this is DISGUSTING!"

I swat yet another spider web from my path. It's the fourteenth one so far. I've counted.

I've only been in here for about ten minutes and I'm already wanting to just collapse Oh, does ten minutes does not seem like that long? Try walking ten minutes through pitch black, traipsing through spiderwebs at every turn and being surrounded by the smell of sodden, rotting wood. It might as well be ten years.

I hold up the torch I was given to my face and squint through the dark. Pure freaking black. This torch is useless. I can't see anything. I should just chuck it.

Suddenly, something creeps its way down my spine, it's million legs chivying down my skin. I scream in horror and start madly batting at my backside, ramming up against the wall. The torch drops from my fingers and goes skidding away from my feet, kicking up dust into my eyes.

I shove my hands down my dress, trying to catch whatever is crawling across me. My fingers clasp around something thick and hairy so I yank it out, ready to chuck it yards away. But when I try, there's a painful tug at the back of my head and the thing falls down around my stomach.

I instantly deflate. Wow, it was my hair. How _stupid_.

At that instant, I remember the torch and how I dropped it. I spin around just in time to see it finish rolling away and land right. in. a. puddle.

"No!" I shout fruitlessly, reaching out to grab it just as the flame dances out, leaving me in the dark.

"Perfect," I mutter, shoulders drooping. "That is perfect." Well, it's not like it even helped that much anyway.

But now that it's out, I realize how much it did help. Now I can't even see my feet. Now I'm as blind as a flock of keese.

Oh, keese. Without that torch, how am I supposed to see what dangers lurk in the shadows? For all I know, a huge Moblin could be drooling right over my shoulder.

I shudder deeply at the thought and start off at an easy pace in the direction I believe is the correct one.

I smack right into a wall.

Nope. Nope, that's not the right way.

Now dizzy and light-headed, I turn the opposite way and stagger off in _that_ direction.

Hey, at least my ankle doesn't hurt anymore. Nor does my arm. Sure there's a nasty scar there now but it's not dripping pus anymore.

_Chicka chicka chick chick..._

I freeze mid-step, my body solidifying like ice. I grip my pickaxe tightly. That sounded like...

_Chick chick chicka chick..._

Oh. Great. Din, why? Why would you do this to me? What did I ever do? Sure sometimes I go to cucco fights and spend my hard earned cash betting. And sure once I broke into my neighbors house. And sure I lie to get out of chores and work.. But this? THIS, DIN?!

The _chicka chick chicking_ eases closer and surrounds me, letting me know Din doesn't give a care what I've done. None of those goddesses do. They want to make my life miserable right now. Just for fun.

I spin around in circles, trying to make out those things in the pitch black. But it's impossible. Only their sounds are getting closer. And THAT'S impossible. I should be able to see them by now. They should be right on top of me by...

Instinctively, foolishly, stupidly, I rise my eyes above me and fixate on those pale white bodies, the black skull-like markings, the red eyes and dripping fangs...

Skulltula.

…..Shit...

I scream bloody-murder and in reaction throw my pickaxe up at them. Ha, that's a great one, Zelda. I'm sure that's going to hurt them. One catches the axe in its mouth and breaks it to bits with its arms before springing straight at me...

Okay, imagine the FASTEST you've ever ran. As fast as you possibly could. Just imagine that. As fast as your legs can possibly carry you.

Okay, now multiply that speed by, let's see, thirty. Thirty times the speed of your fastest run.

That's me. But I'm not just running. Oh, no. That'd be too easy. Nope, I'm running and screaming my head off. You know why? Because there were about one hundred of those Skulltula's back there. One hundred. That's, like... Well, it's a lot of freaking Skulltula.

Speak of the devil, I can begin to hear them drop from their webs and land with heavy thumps on the ground, clicking with rage and malice. Note to everybody: do not mess with Skulltula.

They're skittering across the ground now, probably drooling with the thought of sinking those nasty fangs into my flesh. Sorry, but I don't feel like becoming the main course tonight.

Filled with fear to every little fiber, I continue in my mad dash in random directions, darting to and fro, my hands in front of my blind face. Their clicking isn't helping either, since it fills my ears and mind and head, drowning out everything else.

Now... how am I supposed to get out of this one? Judging by my history, the logical explanation would be I'm not. But still, how lame would it be to get chased by the King, jump out a ten story building, break my ankle, get shot at and then trapped in a village with a bunch of kids who force me to eat yucky salad and sleep in beds that smell worse than rotting flesh, only to get killed by a bunch of oversized spiders? Pretty lame for sure.

But I'll have you know, these aren't just 'oversized spiders.' They're three foot long, cold-blooded killers who eat humans for dinner. They're about as big as a good-sized shark, and ten times more fierce and deadly. One bite from them and the poison will kill you faster than you can even look down at the bite mark.

Heck, they're enough to even make me want to throw up, and that's just looking at the hideous creatures.

But I can't look at them. I can't look at anything. It's so dark. And I _hate_ the dark. If it stays like this, I'm going to be in deep trouble soon. Because I'll run in circles, or run into walls or run out of breath and keel over. I need to get out.

Then, by some beautiful, blessed miracle, there's a speck of light in the distance and a breeze splashes at my face. It's the exit.

And it couldn't have come sooner. There's a loud _R-I-I-I-P_ from behind and then my cloak feels a lot lighter. I pause for a moment to reel up the fabric only to see at least a foot of it has been torn off. In anger, I turn to the Skulltula.

"Stupids!" I shout. "I have to return this!"

The nearest one, the one with brown cloth hanging from its jaws, opens its mouth and lets out a horrendous screech, blowing a bunch of bubbling froth all over my face.

"...On second thought," I say, wiping the spit from my eyes. "...you may keep that."

I sprint back off towards the speck of light, trying to clear my face of that disgusting spat. Man, that was just gross.

_HIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSS!_

I jump forwards, caught of guard, wanting to avoid the Skulltula's legs which try to sweep mine out from under me. The spiders plan works better then expected though because I lose my footing and face-plant right into the ground, getting a mouthful of dirt, rocks and sand. Yum.

I push myself up to my elbows and only have time to wipe my face before something grabs a hold of me tightly by the ankle. I scream and dig my fingernails into the earth, trying hard to keep from getting pulled back. Which isn't easy, by the way.

With much difficulty, I strain my head around only to see that it's the Skulltula's fangs which have me by the ankle and refuse to let go. Which shouldn't be possible. I should be dead. The venom should have pierced my skin and killed me.

Then I realize it's my boots that have stopped that from happening. Those boots, as ugly as they may be, stopped the Skulltula's fangs from getting too deep into my leg. Or else this wouldn't have been pretty.

That still doesn't help anything else though. I'm still about to get munched on, boots or no.

I glance around me hurriedly, searching for anything I can use. And then there it is. That hunk of wood off to my right that is partially illuminated by the light in the distance.

With a yip I reach out to it with all my strength, sweat breaking out across my forehead. I fall three inches short.

"Come on!" I wheeze. "Just a little more...!"

At that exact moment I'm suddenly jolted backwards and my fingers catch a handful of dirt. "Arg!" I scream in frustration. "Are you kidding me?!"

The Skulltula's constriction on my ankle abruptly gets tauter to the point I can almost feel the tips of it's knife-life fangs grazing my skin. Any tighter and it's going to kill me.

No. No. No, it will not kill me. I was so close. It's not ending like this.

With all my strength, I shove myself forwards, kicking the Skulltula square in the face. It howls in repercussion and falls backwards much to my luck. I then use that short time to launch myself at the wood. I take hold of it almost on the spot and flip around, using it to smack away a Skulltula which springs at me. Whoa, that could have ended bad.

I begin to fend off the monsters, stabbing at their faces, kicking at them and slowly backing my way to the light.

I'm almost there after I've smacked at least ten spiders way and I'm actually beginning to feel good about the situation when one stupid Skulltula decides to be a ruiner and hurl its ugly self at me, knocking the wood astray into the swarm of spiders where it then gets devoured by the same one who ate my cloak.

I stare after my weapon, totally stupefied, totally defenseless. The spiders recognize this too because they all spring at me as one unit. But I'm already sprinting away, the blueish light blazing around the tunnel, the smell of grass cutting through the stinky wood.

I finally make it out of the tunnel. A couple more agonizing steps, panting breaths and once more coming close to death, I burst out into Hyrule Field. And the smell of flowers couldn't have been more sweet.

Back at the mouth of the cave, the spiders stop in their tracks, hissing at the outside world. Obviously, they don't like it and are therefore rendered immobile and can no longer try to chase me. That takes quite a load off.

I look back at the spiders for a couple more minutes while I settle the adrenaline coursing through my veins. Holy Farore, that would have been bad if I was still back in that cave.

But now that I'm out exposed in the night, I may be more vulnerable. White stands out in black and any passing by Moblin would be able to spot me and attack without my knowing. I'll have to move fast and swift though Hyrule Field, and not stop for anything. Which will be hard. I've never been past the towns gates except for the few visits to Lon Lon Ranch but that's way up in western Hyrule Field.

This is Southern Hyrule Field and new dangers lurk in these hills.

But for now I see no oncoming danger so I decide to follow a path that looks like it hasn't been used in years. The stars and the sliver of the moon help me see where I'm going but that doesn't make me immune to tripping in holes which I do a lot of. You know, as soon as I get home, I going to rip off my clothes jump right into the bath––

"HELP!"

A flock of birds take to the air in front of me, making me pause.

"HELP ME!" the voice screams again.

I turn in it's direction –– a steep hill that leads into grassy valley that I can't see the bottom of from here. The voice screams again.

"HELP ME PLEASE!"

I immediately start off in that direction, chugging my way up hill. I'm almost out of breath at the top but when I see what's down at the bottom of the valley, my breath is completely stolen.

Moblins. No doubt about it. Their stench, their loincloths they probably haven't washed in years, those ugly horns jutting out of their pale lips.

Moblins.

I fall to my stomach to avoid being seen and observe this seen closer. Someone called for help, and I'm pretty sure it was a Moblin. I scan the vicinity of them until my eyes land on a fire pit a few of the many are surrounding. But it isn't the fire that distracts me. It's what's being cooked over the fire.

"Help me, please! Can anyone hear me?" screams the poor little kid who's tied to a spit, slowly being turned over the fire. "Help! PLEASE!"

I sink even lower into the ground and pluck at some grass in anger. How dare those Moblins, thinking they can just come and cook whoever they want? Well, they can't! Especially little kids!

The hapless kid screams more, his hair dangling dangerously close to the fire, taunting the flames to try and lap at the strands. His face is red, from screaming, the heat or both I'm not sure. He looks miserable.

One Moblin picks up a long stick and begins prodding the kid with it, grunting and thumbing to his buddies. Another one nods and the first Moblin begins to lower the spit so it's even closer to the fire now. The kid screams louder.

My stomach churns. I can't just sit here and watch this. I have to do something. But what can I do? My pickaxe was eaten by those Skulltula back there and that stick is long gone. And the only weapon that I can think right around here are the daisies growing in the grass. And that's not going to help.

I sigh in exasperation, realizing how useless I am to this situation. The kid's screams fill my ears and I look away, not bearing to stand to watch this kid get toasted alive.

Actually, you know what? I may have no weapons but that down there is just wrong. You can't cook kids.

I rise from the grass and start off at a steady pace down the hill, trying to stay as quiet as possible to not afflict any attention on me.

Once I'm close enough to actually see each individual hair on one Moblin's back, I bend down and pick up a club that lays on the ground not being used. I clutch it in both hands as this oblivious Moblin continues to grunt and growl, thumping his hand at the kid. I raise the club above my head and WHAM.

The Moblin falls unconscious to the ground.

I tip-toe around to the other few who have their backs turned, totally unaware to what's about to go down. In all, there's four more, so I need to smack them really fast. Okay, on the mark, get set ––

WHOA!

The Moblin in front of me suddenly turns around and spots me, throwing his head back with a howl. I smack him too late and land a feeble blow on his chest. He hardly flinches.

The other three rush to their comrades side and arm their clubs, ready to strike down at me all at once.

Dammit, why do things NEVER go my way?

Time slows down as they bring their weapons down on me and I flinch, ready to take the hardcore impact that' sure to come. For the Love of Nayru, why'd this have to happen to me?

Love of Nayru... wait. Wait, hold up one second. That sounds achingly familiar. Why does that sound to familiar? There's a sudden burning at my hand and I look down to see the triangle thing glowing once again, golden in the night. And that's when I remember.

"NAYRU'S LOVE!" I screech at the top of my lungs. All at once, a flash of blue light pours out of nowhere and surrounds me in a dome of sparkles. I stare in a mix of fascination and amazement as the four Moblins clash their clubs against the domes, creating millions of tiny little sparkles. They back up, perplexed as to why that didn't work and try again, each striking furiously when they realize it's not working.

I kneel down, afraid the dome will give a way at any moment but when I realize it's not, I stand up and walk a few steps. The dome stays put. Thinking fast, I turn to the kid and begin to stomp out his fire.

"Who are you?" he quavers fearfully. "Are you going to hurt me?"

"No," I say. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to try and help you okay?"

His face flushes and he exhales. "Thank Din."

"No, thank Nayru," I say, noting the dome around us.

He looks up at it like he just noticed. "Whoa!" he exclaims. "Are you a wizard?"

"Pssh, no," I say. "I don't even know how I did that." I'm still trying to figure it out myself...

"Well, whatever it is, it's shrinking," he observes. I turn and realize he's right. The dome is ever growing smaller, and the Moblins are clashing harder than ever. I turn back to the kid.

"I'm going to untie your hands and so you can help me with your legs." He nods when I instruct him this. I work furiously at his bonds, looping them under one another and pulling them loose. Finally, both hands falls free and he begins working at his feet next to my fingers.

I'm numbly aware of how little our force field has gotten, it hardly surrounds the both of us, and I work ever faster to untie his legs. Finally, the last knot comes loose and he falls into the still smoking fire pit. He scrambles away quick and wipes the soot from his eyes. He smiles at me in gratitude but then his gaze shifts upwards and over my shoulder and his expression morphs into one of pure horror.

I notice too late that the dome is now sprinkling out and only patches remain and I can feel the wind coming down at my head. I flip around in a millisecond and grab my club, raising it protectively. Surprisingly, that club saves my life because Moblin 1 lands his target, but my club blocks it.

Maybe the goddesses do care after all.

I take no time in scurrying to my feet and pulling the boy with me. I keep my fist around his shirt and sprint through the darkness, in the direction I was going, hoping to lose the slow Moblins behind us. They run to keep up at first but after a few meters of running, the halt and throw their clubs into the air. They roar and grunt angrily, pounding on their chests and open palms. I don't stop to look back, realizing how close I came to death back there and continue to run frantically until the boy screams at me that he can't breath,

I reluctantly slow and draw in a few breaths, placing my hands above my head. The boy doubles over and cough several times, sounding like his lungs are filled with smoke. I bend over next to him.

"Hey," I say trying my best not to sound so damn scared. "Hey, what's your name?"

"J-Jarson," he says shakily.

"I'm Zelda. Nice to meet you. Now Jarson, tell me. What were you doing out there with those guys?" I ask, brushing hair from my eyes

His own brown ones fill with worry and fear and his bottom lip quivers rapturously. "I-It was horrible. Castletown... it's terrible!"

My head shoots up at this. "Castletown? What about Castletown? Is it in trouble?"

"It's worse! The King... He... He attacked!" he shouts, on the verge of tears.

"Attacked? Go on," I urge.

"There is no more! Everybody's dead! My mom, my dad, my brother! I watched them get killed! And then those things got me!" He breaks into sobs and falls to the ground, pushing his face into the grass.

My stomach sinks. _Everybody's dead_. Impa, Malon... Are they dead too?

I bite my tongue and place a hand on Jarson's shoulder. He looks up at my timidly.

"Listen, Jarson. I need to go back there. Can you show me the way back?"

"No! You can't go back! There's nothing left!"

"Jarson," I soothe the poor kid. "I have family back there. I need to see if they're alive. Please help me."

"It's no use. They are probably dead, too. All of them!"

I squeeze Jarson's shoulder tighter. "Listen to me right now," I bark. "You're family may be dead, and I'm sorry, but mine may not be. I just saved your life so you owe this to me. Please show me the way back to Castletown."

He snivels and looks up from the grass. Dirt hangs from his wet lips. "Y-you really want to go back?" I nod intently. "F-Fine. Let's go. But don't say I didn't warn you."

"Oh I won't," I say helping him to his feet. "Trust me, I won't. Just lead the way."

He nods and together we begin our walk towards Castletown.

* * *

It's like I can smell what's wrong before I can see it. It smells smoky and gross, like a thousand fires all at once. It gagable and the closer we get to the huge looming walls, it gets worse.

Jarson runs up to the iron gates and holds two bars with his fists. I come up behind him and peer into the city.

It doesn't look all that bad. It looked pretty crappy before, but now it just looks slightly worse. There's more rubble on the ground and I can see the scorch marks of many fires burnt about the ground.

But the things that really strikes me as off is the fact that it's quieter than a tomb. There is literally no one on there. No usual guard in his position, no people walking about, no dogs running back and forth. There's nothing.

"There's no more guard," Jarson says, tugging at the bars. "So we're going to have to climb over. I'll go over and open the gate for you."

I nod and keep studying the desolate city. It's not even half as bad as I pictured it.

Jarson scuttles over quickly and eases his way down then disappears from sight for a moment. The next time he appears, the gates are creaking to a steady open and I walk in when they're just barley a few inches open. Jarson closes them once more and together we walk through the bone-dry, silent city.

"Is it all like this?" I ask, bending over to pick up a scorched doll. Probably some child's. "Is is there no one anywhere?"

"I think so. That's why I didn't want to come back. It scares me. It's so quiet."

"The whole city can't be abandoned though!" I say in dismay. "That's a lot of people!"

Jarson shrugs. "I don't really know. I think a lot of them made it but a lot of them didn't."

I shudder at the thought that Impa or Malon may be dead too. No, I can't believe that. I'm sure both of them are fine. I shouldn't worry.

A feeling of dread pulses through me when we reach town square and I spot the Coffee Cucco. Or should I say, what _used_ to be the Coffee Cucco. It's totally obliterated and smashed to smithereens. I rush to the rubble and Jarson follows behind quickly. I kneel down where I would have stood to take orders. I run the dirt through my hand and kick the nearest object which is a stone structure I think used to be the counter.

"Gods dammit!" I hiss. "That stupid King! He did this! He did this for me!"

"You used to live here?" Jarson asks, looking at the rubble. "Man, I'm sorry."

"No, I didn't live here. I worked here," I correct, looking at the burned tea maker. Anger swells inside me. You know what? Damn tea. That's the whole effing reason this happened. And for some reason the King wants to hurt me for whatever the hell I did.

"Come on," I say haughtily and lead Jarson down the alley way that leads to my house. I swear to god, if that place is as bad as the Coffee Cucco, I will single-handedly march into the castle and murder the King.

Thankfully I know I'm not going to become a killer, at least not today, when I round the corner and can see my house still intact, though more shabby looking than ever. So close to home now, I skyrocket to the house and thunder up the front porch steps, Jarson following close behind. I fling the unlocked door open and rush inside.

The smell of something cooking greets me. I sigh in ease, relieved to the moon and back.

I walk to the kitchen – or run more like – and burst forth, laying my eyes upon the most strangest trio of people I have ever seen.


End file.
